Not So Fantastic: Rumor Has Fox Unhappy With ‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot, Sending It Back For Reshoots

Fantastic Four fans, you now have permission to start worrying. Just a day after we got word that the Fantastic Four reboot was “good” according to one Fox-affiliated director, rumors are kicking up that Fox is actually quite dissatisfied with the new version of the Four, and the media giant is trying to do something about it.

No one knows quite what to think about Fantastic Four, and that’s largely due to Fox’s having kept mostly quiet on the production. Aside from a few cast leaks here and there, we’ve yet to hear too much on just what we can expect.

The actor playing the Fantastic Four’s villain, Doctor Doom, said that his character would be a “very anti-social programmer” in the film, a pretty solid departure from anything that’s appeared in previous films or on the comic book page. Another report said that director Josh Trank would be trying to realize the Fantastic Four in “a different way” without a “kitschy, overly comic-book world,” but we still haven’t gotten so much as a teaser trailer from Fox.

That latter bit seems especially important, as Fox is no doubt trying to build the Fantastic Four into a property that can rival its successful X-Men movies. Yet, while we’ve had teasers and no shortage of leaks for films like Star Wars: Episode VII and Batman v Superman – both of which release months after Fantastic Four, by the way – we haven’t even seen a production still of Fantastic Four.

Now comes word that the Fantastic Four crew are heading to Louisiana for reshoots. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but Bleeding Cool says it’s definitely bad in the case of Fantastic Four.

“While some have called it ‘Chronicle 2? rather than Fantastic 4,'” this is clearly not what the studio was looking for. One well-connected senior executive described it to us as “a mess. And multiple sources are telling me about major disquiet at Fox regarding the state of the movie.”

Not the most encouraging of developments for Fantastic Four fans. Word has it that “millions of dollars are being freed up” in order to build sets for the reshoots in Louisiana.

Meanwhile, Badass Digest says not to panic. The Fantastic Four reshoots, they say, have been scheduled for months now, and aren’t the result of some studio exec taking a look and flipping out. They also say they’ve talked to people on both ends of the spectrum concerning what we can expect: some say it’s good, others say it’s a mess. The reason behind the reshoots, though, is reportedly to add more action scenes, as Trank’s Fantastic Four is said to be very character driven.

This all, of course, comes shortly after the first of what we presume will be multiple voices piped up on Fantastic Four. Yesterday, director Matthew Vaughn said that the reboot was good and that all involved still have faith in Trank’s vision. Yet another name in Fox film came forward on Thursday to defend Fantastic Four, as well.

“Everything I’ve seen looks good,” Mark Millar told Flickering Myth.

“I think Josh Trank is such a brilliant director that I sort of relaxed about it. I think it will work out good.”

[Lead image via MoviePilot]